Teen Mental Health Disorders

Because adolescents are prone to mood swings and often feel out of control, it can be hard to identify the difference between a mental health disorder and normal teen behavior. Indicators… withdrawn socially, continual anger, irritability, bad moods or depression, dramatic changes in appetite or sudden weight loss or gain

Early identification and effective intervention is the key to successfully treating a mental health disorder and preventing future disability. Mental health disorders in children and adolescents are caused by biology, environment, or a mix of both. Many factors in a teens environment can affect his or her mental health, such as exposure to violence, extreme stress, and loss. Take the ACE’s test [ACEs are adverse childhood experiences that harm children’s developing brains so profoundly that the effects show up decades later].

In psychiatry, psychology and mental health counseling comorbidity refers to the presence of more than one diagnosis occurring in an individual at the same time. However, in psychiatric classification, comorbidity does not necessarily imply the presence of multiple diseases, but instead can reflect our current inability to supply a single diagnosis that accounts for all symptoms.

Below is just a general overview of the various mental health disorders and symptoms. If you suspect that your child shows symptoms, check with a doctor, do not self-diagnose.

Mental Health Disorders vs Teenage Brain

My teen is moody. My teen is always sleeping. My teen is argumentative. My teen is impulsive. He never seems to consider the consequences of his actions. Is this normal?

A specific region of the brain called the amygdala is responsible for instinctual reactions including fear and aggressive behavior. This region develops early. However, the frontal cortex, the area of the brain that controls reasoning and helps us think before we act is still changing and maturing into adulthood and does not fully mature until 24 years old. Other changes during adolescence include a rapid increase in the connections between the brain cells and refinement of brain pathways. Nerve cells develop myelin, an insulating layer which helps cells communicate. All these changes are essential for the development of coordinated thought, action, and behavior. Images of the brain in action show that teen brains function differently than adults when decision-making and problem solving. Teen actions are guided more by the amygdala and less by the frontal cortex.

Things to consider… The teen brain is more susceptible to stress than the adult brain. Teenage brains are susceptible to addiction and mental illness. There is evidence to suggest that the teen brain responds to alcohol differently than the adult brain. Drinking in youth, and intense drinking are both risk factors for later alcohol dependence.

Teenage Brains By David Dobbs, National Geographic
Moody. Impulsive. Maddening. Why do teenagers act the way they do? Viewed through the eyes of evolution, their most exasperating traits may be the key to success as adults.

The Female Brain By Louann Brizendine
Why are women more verbal than men? Why do women remember details of fights that men can’t remember at all? Why do women tend to form deeper bonds with their female friends than men do with their male counterparts? These and other questions have stumped both sexes throughout the ages. The latest findings show how the unique structure of the female brain determines how women think, what they value, how they communicate, and who they love.

Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain By Daniel J. Siegel
Between the ages of 12 and 24, the brain changes in important, and oftentimes maddening, ways. It’s no wonder that many parents approach their child’s adolescence with fear and trepidation. If parents and teens can work together to form a deeper understanding of the brain science behind all the tumult, they will be able to turn conflict into connection and form a deeper understanding of one another.

Conduct Disorder
causes children and adolescents to act out their feelings or impulses toward others in destructive ways. Adolescents with conduct disorder usually have little care or concern for others.

Emotional disorders
a disability classification used in educational settings that allows educational institutions to provide special education and related services to students that have poor social or academic adjustment that cannot be better explained by biological abnormalities or a developmental disability.

Pervasive developmental disorders
five disorders characterized by delays in the development of multiple basic functions including socialization and communication

Bulimia Nervosa – adolescent is compelled to binge and then to prevent weight gain, they rid bodies of food by vomiting, abusing laxatives, taking enemas, or exercising obsessively.

Binge Eating Disorder – characterized by recurrent episodes of eating large quantities of food; a feeling of a loss of control during the binge; experiencing shame, distress or guilt afterwards; and not regularly using measures such as purging to counter the binge eating.

Unable to focus attention and is often impulsive and easily distracted.

Difficulty remaining still, taking turns, and keeping quiet.

Blurts out answers before questions have been completed.

Frequently become bored easily, fail to concentrate even for short periods of time, and can be disruptive.

Slow to process information and directions. Does not appear to listen.

Struggles to follow through with instructions

Has difficulty with organization

Girls… Frequently talking, often outgoing. May interrupt impulsively. Many girls with ADHD express their restlessness verbally. May be slow to pick up on social cues and may even be verbally aggressive when she feels frustrated. Difficulty maintaining focus or completing tasks, easily distracted, disorganized, forgetful, daydreaming, careless

In making the diagnosis, children should have six or more symptoms of the disorder present; adolescents 17 and older and adults should have at least five of the symptoms present.

NOTE… ADHD presents differently in girls, Symptoms are often more subtle.

A late or missed diagnosis means girls don’t get the academic services and accommodations that could help them succeed and research indicates that undiagnosed ADHD can jeopardize their self esteem and, in some cases, their mental health.

Boys externalize while girls are more likely to blame themselves, turning their anger and pain inward.

Girls with ADHD are more likely to experience major depression, anxiety and eating disorders than girls without.

Bright, inattentive girls often compensate for inattention by becoming super-organized or hyper-focused on school work. Such girls often succeed in school, but their private struggle remains a secret.

ADHD is often hard to detect in girls until they reach puberty and hormone changes can cause dramatic mood swings and disruptive behavior.

A girl who has kept her ADHD hidden until puberty may appear to blow up suddenly when female hormones flood her body.

Teenage girls with ADHD appear to be at greater risk for eating disorders. Likely to be overweight and to suffer from rejection and low self-esteem.

Girls whose ADHD isn’t diagnosed and treated by the time they reach puberty are at risk for developing other psychological disorders, such as anxiety and depression. Adolescent girls who don’t receive help for ADHD and co-existing psychological problems are at high risk for addictive behaviors, such as over-eating, smoking, alcohol abuse and sexual promiscuity.

ADD and ADHD girls alike begin to show more risky sexual and other behaviors.
They may use drugs or alcohol both due to increasing impulsivity and to self-medicate.

Shoplifting, teen pregnancy, and eating disorders are also found more often in females with ADD.

Often girls with ADD are misdiagnosed with depression. The symptoms of ADD and depression overlap: low energy levels, disorganization, social withdrawal, and trouble concentrating. The unrecognized ADD can lead to major coping problems, which in turn lead to actual depression on top of the ADD.

Young people with schizophrenia have psychotic periods when they may have hallucinations, withdraw from others, and lose contact with reality. Often confused with Bipolar Disorder with psychotic features.

Current Thoughts
Are suicidal thoughts present?
When did these thoughts begin?
How persistent are they?
Can they control them?
What has stopped the person acting on their thoughts so far?

Suicide Plan
Has the person made any plans?
Is there a specific method and place?
How often does the person think about the plan?

History
Has the person felt like this before?
Has the person harmed themselves before?
What were the details and circumstances of the previous attempts?
Are there similarities in the current circumstances?

Access
Does the person have access to means to carry out their plan?
How deadly is the method?

QUESTIONS TO ASK

“Sometimes, people in your situation lose hope; I’m wondering if you may have lost hope, too?”

“Are you feeling hopeless about the present or future?”

“Did anything specific precipitate the suicidal thoughts?”

“Have things been so bad lately that you have thoughts that you would rather not be here?”

“What would it accomplish if you were to end your life?”

“Do you feel as if you’re a burden to others?”

“Have you had thoughts about taking your life?
How often in the past year?”

“Have you ever tried to kill yourself or attempt suicide?”

“When did you have these thoughts?”

“Do you have a plan to take your life? Is there something that would trigger the plan?”

Short-lasting sudden movements (motor tics) or uttered sounds (vocal tics) occur suddenly during what is otherwise normal behavior. Tics are often repetitive, with numerous successive occurrences of the same action
Stress and sleep deprivation seem to play a role in both the occurrence and severity of motor tics.

Inability to habituate to sounds and fear with unexpected noises, Easily distracted, Avoids tastes, smells, or textures normally tolerated by children that age, Activity level that is unusually high or unusually low, Impulsive, lacking in self-control, Inability to unwind or calm self, Poor self-concept, Social and/or emotional problems, Difficulty making transitions from one situation to another, Delays in speech, language, or motor skills, Delays in academic achievement, Seeks out movement activities, but poor endurance and tires quickly

About half of people with Tourette’s also have symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Tourette’s can also cause problems with… Anxiety, learning disabilities such as dyslexia, OCD

Most people are able to keep video games (& cell phones) as a leisure activity that doesn’t interfere with the rest of their lives, but some people develop a dependence.

For a person who is already experiencing an emotional struggle, the feeling of accomplishing game tasks, combined with the social connection some games provide, can become addicting in a very real sense.

For the teen who is struggling socially, having trouble adapting to life changes, or feeling stressed about friends, school, or family, video games provide an enticing release: modern games are fully immersive and often never-ending, allowing teens to escape into a safe world with constant rewards.

As time goes on, the initial feelings of happiness and relaxation associated with the game fade, and the addict starts to play more and more in an attempt to get the same positive feeling.

Eventually, this leads to a feeling of helplessness over and dependency on gaming.

Teen Cell Phone Addiction is usually referred to as a Behavioral Disorder, characterized by a teen’s chronic using of, and obsession with, a cell phone.

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